It has been proposed in Comptes Rendus 248, 1959, pages 1533-1535 for the addition reaction of a ketone of this kind with an acrylic acid ester to be conducted in the presence of an alkaline catalyst, such as sodium amide or potassium ethylate. However, in that case the ester group has such an adverse influence on the reactivity of the double bond in the acrylic acid ester that for most ketones the addition takes place at a very low efficiency. In the addition of methyl acrylate to methyl benzyl ketone, however, an efficiency of 82% is reached, which, probably, should be attributed to the activation of the alpha-hydrogen-atom, which is not only activated by the carbonyl group but also by the benzyl group.